any recent notebook or computer that can run Linux, Windows or macOS, using a USB thumbdrive or stick, as a Live USB,

a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3, using a microSD card, or;

any computer as a virtual machine.

As the developer of this distribution (distro) explains: “The Sugar interface, in its departure from the desktop metaphor for computing, is the first serious attempt to create a user interface that is based on both cognitive and social constructivism: learners should engage in authentic exploration and collaboration.”

The Hague — Ransomware eclipsed most other forms of cyber crime as online crime surged in 2017, European policing agency Europol said on Wednesday, citing high-profile attacks such as "WannaCry" that reached millions of computers.

My own family was a ransomware victim. My mom -- a smart woman who has used a desktop computer for decades -- was hit a few years ago. The thieves requested hundreds of dollars via PayPal to remove the encryption they'd placed on the Documents folder of her Windows 10 PC. I researched the problem, and checked with my cybersecurity friends. Their advice? "Pay the damn money." In mom's case, we never managed to recover her Documents folder, and we only found some of her past Word files in old back-ups my dad had taken years earlier.

Which brings us to another advantage of Linux on the desktop: Malware ("ransomware" is a type of malware) is virtually unknown in this OS universe.

There are loads discussions about this on the interwebs -- commentaries that can become technical and arcane very fast. But one of the big reasons Linux-based systems are more secure comes down to this:

While the average Linux user opens the package manager and get the vendor-built software package (and doesn't leave the official repository to find software in 90% cases), the average (non-IT) Windows user opens the browser's tab, and Google for "install 7-zip" or even "install file archiver," and very often accidentally navigates to malware-stuffed website, that is specially crafted and SEOed to catch such kind of users.

Okay, another reason has to do, simply, with market share. As Linux has a much smaller market share -- on the desktop, not servers, mainframes or supercomputers, where Linux leads -- the potential pool of victims is smaller. If your going to develop some malware, you will go for the biggest possible market: Windows (or, maybe, Android).

It's worth repeating: Let's be safe out there. Use only the official repositories for downloading applications and updates, and only grant yourself "root" privileges as needed. (That's were the "sudo" command comes in.)

We consider Lubuntu our default starter distro for new users. Why? Because it runs great on older hardware (the type Your Home Linux users typically want to upgrade). On machines with a bit more power (dual-core processors and above), it runs blazingly fast. Here's a quick video about the latest version, Lubuntu 16.04:

In 2014, approximately 41.8 million tons of e-waste was generated worldwide. The quantity included 12.8 million tons of small equipment, 11.8 million tons of large equipment, 7.0 million tons of temperature exchange equipment (freezing and cooling equipment), 6.3 million tons of screens and monitors, 3.0 million tons of Small IT and 1.0 million tons of lamps.

The amount of worldwide e-waste generation is expected to be 49.8 million tons in 2018 with an annual 4-5 percent growth.

Only 6.5 million tons of total global e-waste generation in 2014 was treated by national electronic take-back systems.

The United States generated 11.7 million tons of e-waste in 2014. The data for 2015 and 2016 are not available yet. According to EPA, only about 1 million tons of over 3.4 million tons of e-waste generated in the U.S. in 2012 was recycled, resulting in a recycling rate of 29 percent. The e-waste recycling rate in 2011 was 24.9 percent, and 19.6 percent in 2010.